Knit abrasive fabric and article made therefrom



July 15, 1924. 1,501,784

R. B. KINGMAN KNIT ABRASIVE FABRlC AND ARTICLE MADE THEREFROM F1 1e@Jim@ 14 INVENToR.

XLI/#sell BY Wm) j wt ad ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 15, 1924.

vPaTlezNT OFFICE.

RUSSELL n. KTNGKAN, or ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

:nur umsrvn ranma ANL AETICLE :una THEBEEBOM.

appncatioii med :une 14, 192s. serial No. 645,282.

To all whom "it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RUSSELL B. KINGMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new andv usefulImprovements in Knit Abrasive Fabrics and Articles Made Therefrom; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to improvements in abrasive fabrics; and theinvention has reference, generally, to a novel construction of abrasivefabric, and .more Specifically to a tubular knit abrasive fabric formanufacturing scouring cloths, mits and `similar articles.

The invention has for its principal object to provide an abrasive fabriccomprising a suitable base thread knitted to form a' tubular body, saidbase thread being gimped with a thin ribbon-like wire made of apreferably non-corrosive metal possessing a suitable degree of hardness,such, e. g. as copper, which istwisted or turned around the body of thebase thread. The tubular knit fabric thus produced, by reason of theinterlooping of its Stitches, tends to irregularly dispose the twists orturns of the ribbon-like wire, so that the same project from the surfaceof the finished fabric ata great variety of projecting angles, thusgreatl increasing the abrasive qualities of the abrio, while thesubstantially iiat and even surface provided by the knit body Supportssuch projections so that a greater number of projections, per

iven square area of fabric, may be brought into contact with the surfaceuponswhich the fabric is rubbed, than is the casewith a woven fabric,all of which greatlyiincreases the eiciency and durability of scouringarticles made out of such novel fabric.

The tubular knit abrasive fabric of the novel character about outlined,renders it possible to manufacture scouring mits Vand similar articles,so that the same are seamless, except for the stitchin required to closeone end of the tubular ody, and conseuently the finished article betterretains its s ape in use, while at the same time a superior article canbe made with less labor,

and more cheaply and quickly.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be clearly understood from the following detaileddescription of the same. A v

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a perspective diagrammatic view of a section of thenovel Seamless or tubular knit abrasive fabric, made according to andembodying the principles of this invention; Figure 2 is a face view of afragment of the novel fabric drawn on an enlarged Scale; Figure 3 is anelevation of a piece of the base thread gimped with at metallic wirefrom which the novel tubular fabric is knitted; and Figure 4 is a faceview of a seamless Scourin mit made out of the novel tubular knit faric.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the hereinabovedescribed views, to indicate corresponding arts.

In producing the novel abrasive fabric, I take a base thread a, whichmay be of yarn, jute, cord, metal wire or other suitable material, and Itwist or turn around the body thereof one or more ribbon-like metallicwires b (see Figure 8). The base thread a, thus imped with metallic wireb, being prepare the same is delivered to the needles of a tubularknitting machine, whereby a tubular fabric A. consisting of a series ofrows of interlooped stitches or meshes is produced see Figure l). Aswill be quite apparent rom an inspection of Figure 2 the twining of thegimped main or base thread to form intermeshed loops during the processof knitting, results in a constant or successive shift of the angles ofprojection of the sharp bends of the ribbon-like gimping wire b, so thatin the finished fabric, the sharp scraping edges presented at thesurface of the latter by such projecting bends of the wire b, arepresented or extended in many dierent directions, thus tending, when thefabric is in use, to produce upon the surface to which the fabric isapplied and rubbed, a strong abrasive action no matter in what directionthe fabric may be moved during such operation. Furthermore, owing to thesubstantially flat character of the knitted fabric, the abrasivesurface, produced by the projecting edges of the bends of the wire b, iscomparatively even and true, so that a greater multiplicity of suchprojecting abrasive bends or edges for a given area of fabric arepresented. against a surface over which the fabric is rubbed, than isthe case with woven fabrics. Another advanta e of the knitted fabric isthat the even ormation of intermeshed loops tends to rodnce a fabricWhich easil mamtains its s ape, and yet is o en enoug so that the samemay be readiy cleansed from grease, dirt, etc., which may accumulatetherein when the fabric is employed in scouring operations.

The novel tubular knit fabric of the character above set forth is mostadmirably adapted for the production of scouring mits, pot cleansers andsimilar articles, which are made in the form of a two-fold body open atone end for the insertion of the hand of the user. For such articles thenovel tubular knit abrasive fabric provides a seamless two-fold body,which may be formed into a mit, by closing one end by suitable stitchingor other fastening means. Such an article thus made is illustrated inFigure 4, in which the reference character c indicates thetWo-foldseamless body of the novel tubular knit abrasive fabric, one end of thesame being closed by suitable stitehing d or other fastening means, thuscompleting by very simple and quick operations the manufacture of themit-like scouring device. The scouring mit thus made will easily' keeits sha e, and can be readily and quick y cleanse In the manufacture ofthe novel tubular knit abrasive fabric, I may make lan all metallicfabric by using a suitable metallic wire for the main or basethread-Which is gimped with the additional ribbon-like metallic Wire; orI may make various forms of combination fabrics, in which the main orbase thread is made of yarn, cord, 'nte or the' like gimped with theribbonike metallic Wire.

I claim An abrasive fabric made of a base thread varound which isconvoluted a thin ribbonlike metallic Wire adapted to present by itsconvolutions a multiplicity of sharp abrasive edges, said base thread soformed being knitted into a seamless tubular body providing rows ofintermeshed loops which by their turns project said sharp abrasive edgesof the convoluted Wire in many different directions.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I havehereunt'oset my hand this 9th day of June, 1923.

RUSSELL B. KINGMAT. Witnesses:

GEORGE D. RICHARDS, MARCUS A. Fox.

